Michaels Memoir
By Michael K

When life throws an unexpected curveball at you, you just have to deal with it. I was 11 when the horrid day came. This curveball was just to far inside and it hit me. I started to bawl in that dead spot in the grass.
It started off that beautiful morning at school. The sun was out and I absentmindedly stared into space. When the bell rang I darted outside and caught up with my friend walking home. We laughed and talked to each other until he got home. I then looked up my street and saw my dad and my massive dog Wrigley. Wrigley jumped up on me and licked me to death it felt like. I was a joyful kid at that time until I saw my dads face.
“ Hey, how was your day today Michael?” he asked me.
“ What’s wrong dad?” I slowly and quietly asked. “Why do you look like that?”
“ I hate to do this to you-
“ What!” I said as my voice was rising.
“ Maddie, is getting to old and weak to stay here any longer,” he quietly said to me. “ I’m afraid we have to put her down.”
“ NO!” I screamed. “ Why now?”
“ Tonight at six P.M.” he said. “ Would you like to come?”
“ Yes,” I said controlling my anger this time.
I could feel my face getting red and hot. My eyes were drowning in tears of pain. I slowly wallowed in the house and then, it just hit me that I would never see my best friend ever again after tonight. I would lose pretty much my whole meaning of life life.
That night at the vet I lay with Maddie on the couch in the last room she would be in. The last thing that she ate was 2 chocolate bars. Chocolate is not good for dogs but Maddie gulped them down in the speed of light. When the dreadful shots were implanted in her she started shaking uncontrollably. It was a horrible sight to see. After the shaking was over see lay there as still as rock. When Maddie was gone the vet told us that her heart was beating as slow as she had ever seen one beat. She also said it was almost a miracle for her to be living at the age of 16 ½. We were told that we took great care of her and loved her so much that we were the ones that kept her going. No one knew how hard I had felt the impact. My brother Ryan always kicked her and pushed her. I had always cared and pet her. On the way home I was bawling. I went to bed that night thinking of everything positive I could. I just wasn’t ready for this curveball. I never stopped thinking of her or loving her for one minute.
My whole life dramatically changed after that night. I look at life in a whole new way now. I realize now that when you love something or someone so much -no matter who or what it is-at some point in life you have to let those painful memories go. Even if it hurts. I’m sure that many other people have had some experience like this one in my life, but I’m positive that no one felt the impact more than me. I loved Maddie for 11 years of my life, but it felt like I knew her much longer than that.